The Bugatti Veyron was a world-beater when it debuted in 2006, representing the very best automotive engineering the world had ever seen. Developing a sequel—the Chiron—that could best such a giant was a staggeringly difficult task; here’s how Bugatti did it.

The Bugatti Chiron is a 1,478 horsepower carbon-fiber monster that—if given enough space—can sprint over 250 mph, and snap your neck with a touch of its enormous mechanical and aerodynamic brakes. It’s not just an engineering marvel, but it’s a marvel in design as well.

National Geographic ran through the development process in a documentary, interviewing engineers, designers, and aerodynamicists, and highlighting each of their rich automotive backgrounds. It’s a fascinating look at the inner workings of one of the most technologically advanced engineering and design teams on earth:

The documentary full of superlatives, showing the biggest minds developing the Bugatti brand’s sole automobile—a hypercar that will likely be the only vehicle in the lineup for an entire decade. The pressure was on. And the end product is, like its predecessor, a masterpiece.